The roar of an engine splits the thick air, and suddenly, a car rips through the yard from the side, kicking up grass and soil as it races toward the knife-wielding perpetrator. I jump back toward the door just as the man’s knees dent the front bumper of a sunflower-yellow mustang.

I barely have time to register what just happened before Kostin jumps out of the car with a handgun, firing multiple shots into my attacker lying in the grass. He empties the entire magazine into him before turning to me with a scowl.

“This is why you’re not supposed to leave the headquarters,” he growls.

“Kostin,” I say, barely able to get any words out.

“Don’t ‘Kostin’ me, Bonnie. Did you think I’d actually let you go like that? I’ve been keeping a very close eye on you,” he says, pocketing his gun and walking up to me briskly.

“You killed that guy,” I say, pointing at the body in the grass.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “That’s one of the 37th Street Bratva. The police will congratulate me for ridding this earth of his sorry ass.”

My entire body is shaking, but I’m relieved that Kostin is here. I wasn’t even sure if he knew where I lived, but he knows everything. He swore to be my protector, and he has kept his word, even when I didn’t want him anywhere near me anymore.

“Are the boys inside?” Kostin asks, squinting through the sun toward a window on the side of the house.

“They’re in their rooms, but… how did you know?”

He chuckles. “I know everything.”

“So, you know I have kids?” I ask, wondering if he also knows that they’re his. There’s no way he would know, or even suspect that. He can’t possibly know.

“I know you have three boys, and they’re very cute,” he says. “I also know that you’re the woman of my dreams, and I would be a fool to ever let you out of my sight.”